Black panthers or leopards in Australia?

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Nurse Kelly

Ah you are talking about the Lithgow/Bowen Mountain panther. Both places are in the Blue Mountains. I live in Richmond, which is at the bottom of the mountains. I've only lived in Richmond for a couple of years, but you hear the stories of sightings. Someone in Bowen Mountain apparently saw it about 8 metres from their backyard fence.
Before I moved to Richmond I lived in Warragamba, and there used to be a lion park there, but they closed it down because apparently a lion and a panther escaped. That was when I was in year 6, so about 12 years ago.

iansand9876

People claim to see them. There is never any objective evidence. No hair. No scat (poo). No skeletons. No footprints. No carcases. To maintain a breeding population you need more than one or two of the same species, so isolated individuals will not survive as a species

It would be foolish to discount the possibility completely, as there is some exceptionally rugged and isolated country in Australia, but it seems to be unlikely.

FFS what's with the names?

Well it would be silly to say it's impossible, but I have to say I seriously doubt it.

Maybe what people have seen are feral cats ~ seriously, they can get VERY big and extremely vicious after a few generations, and there are a lot of them in the bush.

A large predator of the feline variety would quickly become more than just an occasional sighting ~ cats are VERY successful predators if they become established, and breed frequently.

The numbers would increase quickly and the impact such animals would have on local wildlife and vegetation would be obvious very quickly.

If they are not obvious, it's probably because they aren't there to be found, although there may be the odd circus stray which has got away, that type of thing.

Cheers :-)

Elizabeth

The "current affairs shows" you're referring to must have had a slow news day to bring up this old story again.

These claims, of sightings, have been made for many, many years. Never with any proof.
Shows like "Current Affair" and "Today Tonight" run them from time to time purely for sensationalism.

It could be based in fact but I very much doubt it.

The Silver Foo Dog

There are sightings like this in England as well. A black Panther (notice how it is always a Black Panther =D) escaped a zoo or some such place and vanished into the moor's. There are sightings like this all over the world not just here in Australia. Also stories on anything like Today, Tonight and A Current Affair must be taken with a VERY BIG dose of salt.

There might be big black cats in the outback but I will remain a skeptic until proof is provided. I think that the cats are a legend like Big Foot and Nessie.

Min Tous Kiklous Terates

these sightings have been going on as far back as i can rember at least the last 40 years.i rember first readign about it in the sundaypaper when i was about 12 .i dont want to say it looks real or seems it..unless we have at least clear footage of the cat all the footage so far is alittle clouded and subdued as if trying to cover some thing..it may not be a puma leopard or panther...it in fact be a species of wild australia we havent discovered as yet.maybe related tot the tasmanian devil? i do know this however that all the bush walkers i have spoken to say the same things that ,the bush alnd around the blue mountains is vast and still a great deal unexplored..and they add ,that it is easy to get lost there.. also did you hear aboutt he flying rabbits?..lol true some one once reported a flying rabbit in the bush...

youngmum

hi i agree with nurse kelly my partner lived near there at emu plains and he used to know the man who owned it and the guy told my partner people used to let out the animals as they thought it was cruel and one of the panthers were not found and then years later the old guy died and no one looked after the big cats and then they escaped... my partner said at night when the lion park was there you could hear them roaring ..(There is more info to the story but it's just to much to type)

Krisis

Yes it's one of those stories you don't know whether to believe or not. I have read somewhere that people think that some panthers escaped from a circus and have been living in the wild ever since.
Then again, I strongly believe that it is possible, only due to the fact that there is a lot of Australia that has been untouched by man.

I live right near the bush and it is just so isolated, it really makes you think, because when you see the isolation, you think there could be anything living in there. Mind you, I've never seen anything, but I don't live where the panthers supposedly are.

waving_notdrowning

Ahh this story has reared its head again, personally i think its just media hype. If the NPWS were certain about any of these animals living in the wild.... they'd find them, i have no doubt about that, i agree that they would have a big impact on our native wildlife if they were roaming around

Not sure skippy or fatso the wombat would fare well against the big cats :s

Cow Udders

Yep, this story has been around for a while now.
I wouldn't believe it until there is actual proof released.

Madi C

If there were big cats being spotted over the years, but no one really knows, wouldn't that suggest that it doesn't really matter either way because they're not interfering in our lives and they're not ruining the bush because someone would have noticed that.

So... They haven't done anything wrong so far; let them be

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